The Nyetworking Conspiracy of the New Age

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In response to request for comments concerning the "New Age",
to "meaningfully distinguish between the various manifestations of this movement",
I offer the following -- to be taken with as much salt as you wish!

Over the years I guess many have thought about this question
from different angles -- although the question has lost much of its challenge.
I even wrote the following poem about it once -- to celebrate my disassociation
from it !

Yes without No

Positive without Negative

White without Black...

Ageless without Ephemeral

Power without Weakness

Dynamic without Static...

Consumption without
Excretion

Rise without Fall

High without Low...

Right without Left

Up without Down

Forwards without Backwards...

Awareness without Blindspots

Communication without Triviality

Challenge without Adversity...

Mystery without Obfuscation

Drama without Tragedy

Poetry without Prose...

Heart without Head

Love without Insight

Feeling without Thought...

Initiative without Presumption

Action without Resistance

Organization without Denigration...

Self-affirmation without
Self-criticism

Self-confidence without Proselytism

Security without Reinforcement...

New without Old

Youth without Age

Ancient without Modern...

Hierarchy without Privilege

Network without Withdrawal

Community without Dominance...

Problem-disappearance
without Problem-recognition

Action without Nastiness

Advance without Retreat...

Freedom without Constraint

Equality without Discrimination

Brotherhood without Estrangement...

Success without Failure

Integrity without Compromise

Wisdom without Childishness...

Leadership without Personality

Commitment without Prejudice

We without They...

Truth without Falsehood

Good without Evil

Peace without Conflict...

Building without Scaffolding

Letting-go without Grabbing-on

Guidance without Initiative...

Growth without Decay

Creation without Destruction

Life without Death...

Pleasure without Pain

Joy without Sadness

Beauty without Ugliness...

Redemption without Sacrifice

Celebration without Achievement

Regeneration without Dissolution...

Perfection without Imperfection

Detachment without Attachment

Non-action without Action...

Hope without Despair

Faith without Cynicism

Charity without Selfishness...

Advocacy without Sycophancy

Trust without Gullibility

Harmony without Discord...

Light without Shadow

Day without Night

Summer without Winter...

Insight without Doubt

Clarity without Confusion

Certainty without Hesitation...

Righteousness without
Exclusiveness

Liberation without Dependence

Authority without Responsibility...

.

Is this the hand of one hand clapping?

Or the ritual chant of the halflings,

Who fear their own shadow and knowing it not

Obscure the greater light whereby it is cast?

The ageless wisdom names not the middle way...and yet...

Neti Neti

But, provoked by the question, it seemed useful to explore the possibility
that phonetics, grammar, spelling, dyslexia and typographical error offered
the best clues to the many understandings of the phrase in practice. From
which:

1. One obvious meaning can best be understood by recognizing that for many
it is essentially the "Age of the New". So anything new is to be cherished.
Anything old is of lesser priority -- subject to replacement or elimination,
even through planned obsolescence. The problem is that some of the erstwhile
New Agers are themselves now old, and are perhaps dissatisfied with this interpretation
which served them so well in the past! Eternal youth, advocated when one is
young, does not look so convincing when one is older! More pointedly, some
are about to be transferred by the children to homes for the elderly.

2. I quite like the implications of "Gnu Age" -- which suggest that
the humble gnu might actually have a comeback. Maybe this best summarizes
the perspective favoured by deep ecologists.

3. Also interesting is "Knew Age". This draws attention to the sense
that many of those involved have been strong in their knowing of what was
the truth that they knew back then -- and which others needed to know with
their vigorous assistance. Unfortunately, with the passing of time, what was
claimed as known has proved less effective in making a difference -- especially
to relationships amongst those who knew! As such they may be understood as
the disabused, facing their own doubts about the adequacy of old patterns.

4. The possibility of typographical error, or dyslexia, suggests the need
to explore "Now Age", and indeed there have been many who have pushed
for living in the present moment -- creatively indifferent to the past and
the future. There is much mystical literature in support of this view. They
have had their problems, as interviews with ageing hippies show. Their views
have also reinforced some environmental and other difficulties, as ignored
by-products continue to accumulate.

5. Also possible is a combination of the last two, namely "No Age".
For some this involves the challenges of learning how to say "no" -- to processes
which continue to trouble our society. For others it involves a form of systematic
negativity -- whether of the critical form, most condemned as criticism for
its own sake, or in the less understood form associated with the "via negativa"
(Neti Neti, in Sanskrit; "negative capability" as advocated by the poet John
Keats). For others again it emphasized that age should not be a factor (as
in ageism) -- something that the ageing advocates of this approach have had
to struggle increasingly to communicate to the young unemployed. More cruelly
it may also come to be understood by historians in the future as the period
when people did not grow up, and prided themselves for it.

6. Following through on these permutations, we also have "Know Age".
As indicated above, this period has indeed been a time of much "knowing".
We may indeed end up being the best informed species headed for extinction!
More creatively this could be understood in the light of the motto of the
oracle at Delphi as "Know Thyself" -- and many have pursued the learnings
associated with this route.

7. But, taking into account an earlier perspective, the delphic "Know
Thyself" has also been interpreted by some as "No Thyself" -- and
self-negation has indeed been a phenomenon characteristic of many in the "No
Age", although this too is reinforced by many spiritual practices aimed
at negating the self.

8. Finally the phrase could also be understood as "News Age", and
indeed it has been very much the age of the latest news from all corners of
the globe. Governance of countries has become both governance in response
to the latest news (short-termism in the extreme) -- as well as governance
of the news (news management, censorship and spin-doctoring).

The challenge of the phrase is that whilst some interpretations offer incentives
to the generation that first subscribed to it, it is not clear how those that
follow can take it on. As with clothes that were new for parents, their kids
cannot be expected to want to continue to get some wear out of what may no
longer appear fashionable.

Having done "new" for a number of decades, where do we go next? What's new?
What is "post-new"?